The match was similar to Isner's quarter-final victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber, which went to three sets, all tiebreaks, and contained no breaks of serve. Isner played six tie-breaks in 10 sets at the tournament and won five.

Wilko: Murray's right - he won't win

Andy Murray is recovering from back surgery and if he is to win the Australian Open he will likely need to get past Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic following an unfavourable draw for the Scot.

The man himself says he probably won't win in Melbourne - and ESPN's resident tennis expert and former British No. 1 Chris Wilkinson agrees.

The third-seeded Isner, playing with a right ankle injury he picked up at the Hopman Cup the previous week, took a crucial mini-break to open the first-set tie-break. In the second tie-break, he rallied from 3-0 down and closed with an ace on his third championship point.

"This match was very tight, as every match I've played this week was very tight," Isner said. "I needed every bit of it to come out on top.

"I've spent a lot of time on this court this week, but as each match progressed, I was getting more and more comfortable."

Isner heads into the Australian Open with a question mark hanging over his fitness because of his injured ankle. He has drawn a qualifier in the first round.

"I'd like to thank my chiropractor because I had a bit of a banged-up ankle coming in here and he spent tireless hours working on me," he said. "Without him I wouldn't have been able to take this court."

In the final of the Kooyong Classic exhibition event, Japan's Kei Nishikori joined coach Michael Chang as a tournament champion with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Tomas Berdych.

Nishikori, seeded No. 16 at the Australian Open, was watched in the stands by former French Open champion Chang, a three-time winner at the Melbourne venue from 1995 to 1997.